Chess is a classic and popular board game which not only provides fun, but also an intellectual challenge to participants. The wide variety of movements that can be made by chess pieces create a situation where numerous strategies and move combinations can be implemented. The standard chess game consists of a checkered board eight squares across and eight high, and thirty-two pieces divided equally into one set of light colored pieces and one set of dark colored pieces.
One of the great challenges of standard chess is learning to recognize how various pieces may be used separately and in combination. A second challenge involves gaining a sense for which situations and piece placements are strategically advantageous and which are disadvantageous.
Numerous variations of the standard chess game have been proposed both as means of increasing the complexity of the game (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,190,254 to Leeds and U.S. Pat. No. 4,211,420 to Quiroz) and as means of simplifying the game (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,257,787 to Miccio).
While Leeds (U.S. Pat. No. 4,190,254) discloses a chess set utilizing two entire sets of standard chess pieces, that game was designed for use by four players. Thus, in that game, one player only controls one set of standard chess pieces. While the doubling the number of players involved probably does increase the complexity of the game, each player still needs only to keep track of one set of 16 pieces. However, because this game involves four players, it distorts the normal adversarial relationship of standard chess. Players may find themselves forming alliances with other players, or having opposing players forming alliances against them. Furthermore, normal strategy, which involves occasional trading of equivalent pieces, or sacrificing of less valuable pieces to capture more valuable ones is distorted because players trading equivalent pieces may find themselves in weaker positions in relation to the other players.
Quiroz (U.S. Pat. No. 4,211,420) discloses a chess-like board game employing 62 game pieces rather than the standard 32. However, fourteen of those pieces are "boat" pieces, which are completely foreign to standard chess. Furthermore, the board contains a number of squares designated as "water" on which the standard chess pieces may move only if they do so in conjunction with a "boat" piece. This game therefor, departs so far from standard chess so as to render the strategies employed in it almost irrelevant with regard to improving one's chess abilities.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,257,787 to Miccio discloses a chess-like game played on a board containing 30 squares in a five wide and six long configuration. Each player controls 10 standard chess pieces.
Thus, the Miccio game assists inexperienced players to learn basic strategy by minimizing the complexities of the game while preserving the basic rules and context of standard chess. While this is certainly helpful to beginners, it fails to present the expert with even an equivalent challenge to standard chess.
These other chess-type games either alter the rules of chess so much as to render the game almost irrelevant to improving chess abilities, or they simplify the rules in an effort to accommodate beginners. In neither type of game do the participants get both increased complexity and relevance to standard chess strategies, thus allowing participants to improve their chess abilities while enjoying a unique variation of the standard game. The aforementioned prior art, along with the rules of chess, is hereby incorporated by reference.